The AfterEllen.com Huddle: Musical Guilty Pleasures

Because you’re all about that bass, ’bout that bass. What bands or albums do you love to rock out to when no one is watching?

Bridget McManus: I listen to Sia‘s “Breathe Me” on a loop when no one is around. I’m not sure why I like to feel melancholy but Sia makes it feels so good.

Chloe Curran:Taylor Swift. Although Taylor Swift seems to have morphed from blonde country pop starlet to everyone’s BFF and awesome cat connoisseur. She’s pumped out a lot of guilty pleasures, but one in particular is so deeply basic that I’ve never admitted my affection to anyone—until now. “Mean,” aka a song about people being mean to Taylor, is awesome and so what if I listen to it after reading a particularly nasty comment. ALL YOU ARE IS MEAN, YO.

Eboni Rafus: No shame in my game: Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off.” All day, every day.

Ali Davis: For real, I have never let a significant other browse through my iPod. I think I’ll know it’s true love when I do.

You know Right Said Fred? The “I’m Too Sexy” guys? I own that entire album. And I love every bit of it. Also, depending on my mood, there’s “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, “More Human Than Human” by White Zombie, the soundtrack to Endhiran and other Bollywood soundtrack magic, everything—EVERYTHING—Aqua ever released, and I have totally been busted cranking “Call Me Maybe” up to 11.

Valerie Anne:Bring It On: The Musical and Legally Blonde: The Musical. I love Broadway and have many favorite shows but for some reason these soundtracks have their hooks in me, deep. It could be the catchy tunes, it could be the positive and uplifting messages, it could be the ties to the best cheesy movies of the early 2000s, I don’t know. All I know is they’re my first picks when I settle in for the long bus ride from New York to Boston.

Elaine Atwell: I would like to preface my answer by saying that I have not one single ounce of guilt about the music I listen to alone. I sing loud and I dance louder and afterwards I look my neighbors in the eye, knowing they heard it all. My go-to picks for solo performance are usually the artists I grew up with. From my dad’s record collection, I have a fiendish love for Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and Fleetwood Mac. From my older sisters’ tape collection, my soul is touched my Mariah Carey‘s mid-’90s glory days and En Vogue. So much En Vogue. And I still know every single word from Third Eye Blind’s first album, including, “Semi-Charmed Life,” which I am absurdly proud of.

For serious. but nothing, NOTHING, provokes my ire more than the radio edit of “Waterfalls” where they edit out Left Eye’s ENTIRE VERSE. the fuck is with that.

Jenna Lykes: I still get filled with a white hot rage when I hear the radio edit version of “Semi-Charmed Life.” That album is awesome and has an underrated back side. ::raises fist in 3EB solidarity::

Chelsea Steiner: Three words: Coyote. Ugly. Soundtrack. What can I say, I can’t fight the moonlight.

Grace Chu: ’90s Eurodance tracks: “This is Your Night,” “Be My Lover,” “Barbie Girl,” “Another Night,” “What is Love?” So upbeat and uncomplicated, even if the lyrics are occasionally depressing. but you aren’t listening to this fluff for the lyrics.

Dorotyh Snarker: “Toxic” by Britney, bitch. Because if you don’t dance to that when it comes on Shuffle while folding the laundry you are a liar and clearly repudiate all things fun.

Lucy Hallowell: After many years of getting shit from my music snob siblings I am happy to say I don’t feel guilty any more about the music I like. But I am fully embarrassed by the fact that I used to do the dance from the NSYNC song “It’s Gonna Be Me” every time it came on and may still know most of the steps. It’s a wonder to behold.

Erica Feliciano: “Domino” by Jessie J. That’s my feel good song when no one else is around. I do my “straight girl” dance to it with full on shoulder moves and hair flips, even though I don’t really have much hair.

Sarah Terez Rosenblum: I’ve spent most of my life feeling vaguely ashamed of my musical preferences. When everyone else liked Kurt Cobain, I was memorizing the cover of Tiffany‘s eponymous album, imagining running my fingers through her auburn hair. When rap was a thing among suburban white kids, I was singing about various types of lettuce along with the witch in Into The Woods. After years of pretending to give a shit about U2 or sorry but Beyoncé, I no longer feel ashamed of what I love. Right now that’s Taylor Swift’s ‘Out of (not into) the woods.’

Emily McGaughy: I think I’m too old to care whether people are watching, but my affinity for ’80s and ’90s country music would probably qualify as a guilty pleasure. I grew up in a small Texas town, so aside from my parents’ influence of classic rock, country was my go-to. I still love listening to The Judds, Lee Roy Parnell, Joe Diffie, Brooks & Dunn, etc. The Pandora station I listen to every Saturday when I’m cleaning house is set on Blackhawk. And I insisted on having Restless Heart‘s “I’ll Still Be Loving You” played at my wedding ceremony. I’m shameless—pun intended.

Lindsay Hicks: There is an Elaine Stritch station on my Pandora. I call it “My Alone Time station.”

Dara Nai:“Closer” by Nine Inch Nails, cranked so loud it makes your hair vibrate, and “Anaconda” on a loop.

Kim Hoffman:Paula Abdul’s “Rush Rush” and the quintessential 5th grade beach party jam, “Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe are so shamelessly important, and anything New Kids on the Block (I took my best friend to one of their shows last summer and every girl there was screaming like it was The Beatles, I’ve never been to such a loud concert, it was AWESOME/Joey was my first crush as a kid because in 1990 he resembled the future of lesbian hair/face/attire/everything.) Also: If “Jenny from the Block” by J.Lo were to come on the radio in my car, I would have zero complaints about it.

Dana Piccoli: I have cried at every Debbie Gibson concert, the last two of which, were in the last few years. When “Out of the Blue” comes on, I just catch the spirit. Also, any ’90s alt-pop bands like Velocity Girl or Save Ferris.

Trish Bendix: In high school and my first year of college, I had a really strong emo phase where I was listening to a lot of dude bands like Taking Back Sunday, The Get Up Kids, Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory. Nostalgia is powerful and I can’t help but break out some of the familiar albums every once a year or so.